Congratulations Janipher!

We are delighted to announce that Janipher, who was successfully placed by Snap in the month of January, has won our monthly prize draw of a £50.00 gift voucher.

All vouchers are brought through Give As You Live and help raise funds for the wonderful Sohana Research Fund.

If you are placed by Snap and would like to have the chance of winning a £50.00 gift voucher for either M&S or Amazon, simply send an emailwhen you have started the job with your new employer's name - then your name will go into the hat that month!

The lucky winner will be drawn on the last Friday of each month.

Nannytax | Staff Tax Column:

Countdown To Pensions Increase

The minimum Workplace Pension contribution amounts required by nanny employers is due to increase. This increase should be easy to manage (as long as you are prepared!). Stay ahead of the game with Nannytax’s 5 Step Guide to pension increases:

Workplace Pensions and automatic enrolment is now a legal requirement and must be provided by all employers, including nanny employers. If you are unsure of what this means for you, take a look at our ‘About Workplace Pensions’ page for a quick overview.

The current employer minimum contribution set by the government is 1%. This is due to rise to 2% on 6th April 2018 and again in April 2019 to 3%.

Both the employer and nanny can choose to contribute more than the minimum if they wish, but it is the employer's responsibility to ensure the pension scheme is a qualifying scheme, and contributions are deducted correctly.

To save money, the percentage contribution can be paid on something called 'Qualifying Earnings'. Using Qualifying Earnings means that you only pay a pension contribution on part of the gross salary, rather than the whole salary, therefore reducing the amount to pay.

You can use our helpful calculator on the Nannytax website to calculate the pensions costs.

Alternatively, if you would like to find out how Nannytax can help take the hassle out of Workplace Pensions and Automatic Enrolment, read about our fully managed pension service here, or contact our Pension Team on 0203 137 4573.

Dan White Reviews Silent Witness

Disability in television has always blown hot and cold. Just the thought of bringing this amazing community into the fold is, it seems to the people at the top, problematic at best. It isn’t. My daughter, Emily, was born with spina bifida.

I created a comic about a team of disabled superheroes called The Department Of Ability to address the lack of diversity in children’s entertainment. It’s also sadly lacking in TV – usually. But the latest Silent Witness episodes, One Day, didn’t disappoint...

Blog: A Day in the Life Of Tom

Our Story
"In 2016 I started to work with a lovely family with a little boy with a very rare condition, Tom. Tom has taught me so much, every day he amazes me with his determination & continued positive attitude.​

Tom does not attend school as his health needs are too great therefore I have become Tom's teacher. This is when I started to research more and more into different activities and places to go with a child who uses a wheelchair but also has complex medical needs.

What I have learnt is that Tom and I can do anything together, we are a team, somethings may take a little more planning but we are able to do it"

Auto Enrolment Obligations for Court of Protection Deputies

One of the most challenging aspects of acting as a Court of Protection property and financial affairs deputy can be assuming the role of employer when support or care workers are needed.

A recent change in the law has seen the government place an obligation upon employers to make pension provision for their employees. This will be subject to a phased introduction over the next couple of years through what is known as auto enrolment. The scheme will apply to every employer so long as they have at least one employee and no matter the nature of the employment.

The rules associated with auto enrolment are complex and potentially onerous in terms of their set up requirements and the ongoing obligations which they impose. The Deputy is under a legal obligation to submit information to The Pensions Regulator to show how they have complied with those obligations.

The new law means that every employer must automatically enroll workers into a workplace pension scheme if they:

are aged between 22 and State Pension age

earn more than £10,000 a year

work in the UK

Just because someone qualifies does not mean that they have to be part of the pension scheme but if they don't want to belong they will have to formally opt out. By law, it is very important that the deputy does not take any action to stop or discourage current or new employees from enrolling in the pension scheme. If the employee has any questions then the employer should advise them to take independent advice or contact the pension provider.

The deputy's duty continues beyond the initial enrolment process because employees that may not have qualified for auto enrolment in the first instance may qualify at a later date, if there are changes to the gross earnings threshold or the employee’s personal circumstances. In addition every three years the Deputy will have to re-enrol any qualifying employee who is still working for them who has previously opted out.

If the Deputy does not directly employ support or care workers but uses agency staff the deputy will need to make sure that the agency has complied with the auto enrolment requirements. If not then the deputy may be required to do so.

It isn’t just the deputy that needs to think about this. Where there is an ongoing personal injury claim the litigation lawyer needs to be aware that the administration and implementation costs associated with auto- enrolment may be significant and that this does need to be taken account of when valuing the claim.

Dravet Syndrome Fundraising Ball

Our Favourite YouTube Clip This Month!

My disability is my motivation - BBC News

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If you have a favourite video clip, app, website or book, why not send us the details so we can share with everyone through Snap News. We would also love to hear about new technology and equipment, activities and resources that you particularly like.